This is my first redistricting diary. I’ve used Dave’s redistricting before for other states; I’ve just never cared to post it. I chose to do Massachusetts, which is poised to lose one seat in 2010. Barring a Republican win at the state house (which is increasingly unlikely with the candidacy of Tim Cahill), Democrats should be able to push through a liberal gerrymander. Here were my goals:
1. Take out Stephen Lynch: Lynch is the very definition of a DINO. He represents a D+11 district, but votes like a Blue Dog. I don’t know a single progressive in Massachusetts that doesn’t have sweet dreams about primarying him.
2. Make sure that all representatives continue to live in the district they represent: This, I knew, would be hard, considering that 4 representatives live in Middlesex county alone, but it remained important to maintain the Democratic machine
3. Make the state look less gerrymandered: This, for reasons described above would also be hard, but I hoped that I could, at the very least, make my map look better than this:
4. Give Boston a compact district: Just personal, for me. I want the best city in the country to basically have a district all to itself
Here’s what I came up with:
State Map:
Boston area:
District 1-Blue-John Olver(D): I know that others who have redistricted MA decided to take out Olver, because of his age, but, again, my goal is to send Lynch packing. This district loses some territory in Berkshire and Worcester, but gains in Middlesex and Norfolk (this was to allow other representatives to eat up Lynch’s strongholds in center-east Norfolk). Olver retains his home base in Amherst (assuming he runs). Looks a little gerrymandered, but it isn’t too bad, in my opinion.
District 2-Green- Richard Neal(D): This district just changed to take in more population. Gains territory from District 1 in Berkshire and Worceter.
District 3-Purple-Jim McGovern(D): Out of all the districts, this one probably looks the most gerrymandered. I had to make sure that McGovern kept his home base in Worceter (the city) while still gaining most of Frank’s territory in Bristol (so that Frank was free to eat up the bulk of Lynch strongholds). McGovern will be very happy with this district, since he’ll probably be even safer than he was before (if that’s even possible)
District 4-Red-Barney Frank(D): Yeah, I know, Frank isn’t going to exactly be thrilled about this district, but I had to make do. He loses strongholds in exchange for Lynch territory (which is obviously less progressive) in Norfolk. But he retains his home in Newton and a stronghold in Taunton, and he also picks up territory in the city of Brockton, which is decently progressive. Frank’s margins may go down, but it won’t be my much. He’ll be fine.
Note: Theoretically, since this district contains a lot of his old strongholds, Lynch could run here, but I doubt he’d want to go head up against Frank.
District 5-Yellow-Niki Tsongas(D): Not much going on here, really. Tsongas loses some territory in Essex and gains some in Middlesex, at the expense of Markey. Her margins shouldn’t change at all, and she ratains her base in Lowell.
District 6-Turquoise-John Tierney(D): I decided to make this more compact, putting almost all of it in Essex. I did, however, have to give Tierney the town of Melrose to avoid splitting Methuen between two districts and retain population equality. Looks a bit prettier than before, and Tierney should have an easier time when he is essentially responsible for one county.
District 7-Gray-Edward Markey(D): This will be the Boston suburb district. It contains every town and city adjacent to Boston except for Newton (where Frank lives) and Somerville (where Capuano lives). Markey keeps his home in Malden, and should be happier with this more compact district
District 8-Light Purple-Stephen Lynch (D) vs. Michael Capuano (D): This district contains all of Boston, as well as Capuano’s home in Somerville and a small bit of Norfolk. I’m hoping that something like this will put Lynch in a rage, since he loses all of his old district in the moderate parts of Norfolk and Plymouth and now has to deal with the entire city of Boston. Given that this is urban and the most liberal district in the state (indeed, it would rank pretty high nationwide, I’d imagine), I’d expect Capuano to be favored on his merits (he should also win the labor backing), though things could get interesting if Lynch is still ahead in the money column. Another thing: at only 53% white, this district is almost minority-majority, and could very well be in a decade or so.
District 9-Teal-Bill Delahunt(D): I knew that Lynch might try to be clever and run in this district with this map (even though he lives in Boston), so I had Frank’s district take up as much of Norfolk as possible. Now this district is just Quincy (Delahunt’s home base), a small bit of Lynch’s old territory, and the Cape, where Lynch isn’t accustomed to.